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Peter Singleton
Middleton, Greater Manchester, UK
Much of the flavour of brewed coffee comes from volatile oils. Raw coffee beans keep them safely confined, but roasting then grinding them exposes a relatively huge surface area to the surroundings. Much of the oil evaporates and some of the rest oxidises. If the roasted beans are fairly fresh and are ground just before brewing, the drink will taste of fresh oils. However, coffee bags contain roasted and ground beans in a bag, which will let the oils out and oxygen in. They might brew tasty coffee a day after bagging, but delivering them to your mug can take weeks, maybe months. The resulting brew might contain caffeine, but it won’t taste much like coffee.
Bill McLachlan
Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, UK
We all have different tastes. I think coffee bags, which I use all the time, make wonderful coffee!
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